International
More moves toward transparency and accountability
So the news is still full of bad stuff, but I detect a change in people’s reactions to the bad stuff, in that calls for transparency and accountability keep mounting.
15Jun2010 | Deborah Alicen | 0 comments | Continued
Bob Schieffer on Church Bureaucracy
To follow up on yesterday’s post, here’s a great commentary by CBS’s Bob Schieffer on Catholic Church bureaucracy and the pedophile priest scandal.
4Apr2010 | Deborah Alicen | 0 comments | Continued
They may as well be Martians: what the Vatican doesn’t get
To date, every time a Vatican spokesman or other defender of the Pope opens his mouth, what comes out is a clear demonstration of how much they do not comprehend about the experience of sexual abuse; and, more to the point, how little they attend to what’s necessary for healing from sexual abuse.
3Apr2010 | Deborah Alicen | 0 comments | Continued
Revisiting Australia–Updated
Oh, would that I were getting on a plane to actually fly to Australia! Alas, this is instead a revisiting of the subject of Australia and its bureaucracies.
30Jul2009 | Deborah Alicen | 0 comments | Continued
Speaking of Kafka
As I regularly refer to Franz Kafka, this item on some of his unpublished papers got my attention this morning. Part of Kafka’s genius was in seeing, and making the picture accessible to others, the crazy-making, and sometimes downright evil (e.g. Nazi), abuses to which bureaucracies so often are given. In doing so he has [...]
10Jul2008 | Deborah Alicen | 0 comments | Continued
Another International Update–Nepal
A couple of months ago I ran a story about the promotion of ethics in civil service in Nepal. It appears we can look for that to continue following the abolishment of the monarchy and the nation having been declared a democratic republic. I am far away from an expert on Nepalese politics, but as [...]
29May2008 | Deborah Alicen | 0 comments | Continued
Rudd and bureaucrats again…
Kevin Rudd‘s administration in Australia is going to continue to be of interest here because of his background as a bureaucrat, and his apparent dedication to bureaucracies that well serve the public. The operative word there is “apparent.” Time will tell the story, of course, but there’s a news item today–or technically, tomorrow, given that [...]
28May2008 | Deborah Alicen | 0 comments | Continued
My Memorial Day Weekend
I suppose I spent the Memorial Day Weekend much as many people did. I mostly did yard work, planting flowers and cleaning up the detritus that gathers in a yard over a winter. I talked with neighbors who were walking their dogs or pushing a stroller with a studious little face peeking out from its [...]
27May2008 | Deborah Alicen | 0 comments | Continued
Australia’s New PM Puts Major Focus on Bureaucratic Reform
I would suggest, however, that while we prefer our bureaucracies not be ideologically driven in the way the Bush administration departments have been politicized, advancing the idea of policies and processes that are responsive to their constituencies, as Rudd seems to have done, is expressive of an ideal, and in that way is putting forth a non-partisan ideology. Lacking a clear partisan ideology doesn’t mean that he’s “lacking ideology” altogether.
4May2008 | Deborah Alicen | 0 comments | Continued
Caught on Tape– “Counterintelligence Woman!”
Gosh golly gee whiz. Here I am, a bare six months into this blog and already I’ve succumbed to leading with a sensationalistic and inaccurate headline. My bad. So here’s the clarification. “Counterintelligence woman” (explanation here) wasn’t actually, literally caught on tape. But a story about her and the problems she caused certainly was caught [...]
2May2008 | Deborah Alicen | 0 comments | Continued
Malaysia–Thailand Editorial
Having recently published posts about both Thailand and Malaysia, this editorial is pertinent to the bureaucratic change movements in both countries. In this instance, there’s the need for bureaucrats in both countries to “to learn and work together in order to understand the hearts and minds of people in their respective countries.” May it be [...]
29Apr2008 | Deborah Alicen | 0 comments | Continued
Bureaucratic Reform in Malaysia
I do enjoy finding reports of bureaucratic reform going on in other parts of the world. Today it’s a story in the Sabah, Malaysia, Daily Express, and it’s rich with references to grassroots leadership, cultural change, and citizen involvement.
5Apr2008 | Deborah Alicen | 0 comments | Continued
Anti-Corruption and Open Society Forum Work in Mongolia
The Montsame News Agency in Mongolia carries this item today: Montsame Agency By an order of the Anti-Corruption Authority, the “Glob International” non-governmental organization has conducted a survey encompassing 121 state institutions, 185 officials and 189 state servants who are duty bound to offer state services, and 749 citizens. The results of the survey, funded [...]
26Mar2008 | Deborah Alicen | 0 comments | Continued
From The Rising Nepal: Promoting Ethics in Civil Service
There’s a very thoughtful editorial today on The Rising Nepal, Promoting Ethics in Civil Service. It’s far more than just a cheer leading piece for ethics. It presents an analysis that has both depth and breadth in its considerations of the issues in different types of organizations—ranging from social and academic associations to professional bureaucracy—and [...]
15Mar2008 | Deborah Alicen | 0 comments | Continued
Jit Satharana—The “Public Mind” and Older Women
All such activism is indicative of what Penchom calls, “Jit Satharana (the public mind), a mind that cannot tolerate injustice, is willing to make sacrifices and looks toward the welfare of future generations. And it has nothing to do with ”political ambition, nor planning to become a public figure’.”
8Mar2008 | Deborah Alicen | 0 comments | Continued
I couldn’t have said it better…
I couldn’t have said it better, and actually I have been thinking about a post along these lines lately, so I’ll let the Philippines’ former Civil Service Commission chair say it for me: ABS-CBN Interactive A professional bureaucracy is the best defense against graft and corruption in government, former Civil Service Commission chair Karina David [...]
3Mar2008 | Deborah Alicen | 0 comments | Continued
